Big money banking on local GOP

A Gaston County state senator is approaching six figures in campaign fundraising this year, despite having had no opposition in her bid for re-election.

Republican Sen. Kathy Harrington, who represents District 43, has taken in $91,503. Political action committees have contributed more than $55,000, or 60 percent of that total, according to campaign finance reports released this week.

Individual donors have chipped in more than $36,000 for Harrington’s campaign.

Harrington was elected to her first term in 2010. She faced no opposition in the Republican primary in May, and there is no Democrat or Libertarian candidate opposing her in this month’s general election. Yet she has raised more money than any state-or county-level candidate in Gaston County this year.

In the N.C. House race for District 110, which comprises western Gaston and Cleveland counties, Republican Kelly Hastings is heavily favored to win re-election against Democrat Jamar McKoy. And Hastings has a decisive lead in fundraising, having collected $60,031 to McKoy’s $4,727.

More than half of the amount that Hastings has raised, or almost $35,000, has come from political action committees, including many of the same ones that donated to Harrington’s campaign. McKoy has received no money from such organizations, according to reports.

Lewis Guignard, a Libertarian running for the House 110 seat, has received just under $2,000 in contributions.

In Senate District 44, which represents only a fraction of northern Gaston County, a similar disparity exists between Republican David Curtis and Democrat Ross Bulla. Curtis has raised $59,629, including $38,266 from individuals and $12,400 from political action committees. Bulla has collected $20,400 in contributions, with $8,846 from individuals and no money from PACs, according to reports.

Curtis, a Denver optometrist, received an $8,000 contribution from the N.C. State Optometric Society PAC.

The N.C. House race in District 109 pits Republican Dana Bumgardner against Democrat Dodie Reese. Bumgardner has raised almost $53,000, with most of that coming from individual contributions, and about $4,400 from PACs.

One of Bumgardner’s donors was Thomas Cloninger, the brother of longtime Democrat and Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger, who spent $1,100 on a fundraiser dinner for Bumgardner on Oct. 17.

Reese reported receiving $1,260 in total contributions as of March 8, but has not submitted any campaign finance information since then, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.